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U.S. court dismisses Colombian human rights claims against Occidental
Source: Reuters
U.S. court dismisses Colombian human rights claims against Occidental
BY LAWRENCE HURLEY
WASHINGTON Mon Dec 15, 2014 3:13pm EST
(Reuters) - A U.S. federal appeals court on Monday threw out a human rights lawsuit brought against Occidental Petroleum Corp over allegations that it played a role in killings carried out by the Colombian military in 2004.
A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court judge's decision to dismiss the lawsuit filed in California by family members of three labor union leaders killed by the 18th Brigade of the Colombian National Army during the incident.
The plaintiffs claimed that Houston-based Occidental, which operates a pipeline near the Venezuelan border, provided funding to the brigade, making it liable for the actions of the soldiers under a U.S. federal law called the Alien Tort Statute as well as California state law.
Occidental's Colombian subsidiary and Ecopetrol, Colombia's state-owned oil company, jointly gave assistance worth $6.3 million to help with security at a time when guerillas were attacking the pipeline, according to the ruling.
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BY LAWRENCE HURLEY
WASHINGTON Mon Dec 15, 2014 3:13pm EST
(Reuters) - A U.S. federal appeals court on Monday threw out a human rights lawsuit brought against Occidental Petroleum Corp over allegations that it played a role in killings carried out by the Colombian military in 2004.
A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court judge's decision to dismiss the lawsuit filed in California by family members of three labor union leaders killed by the 18th Brigade of the Colombian National Army during the incident.
The plaintiffs claimed that Houston-based Occidental, which operates a pipeline near the Venezuelan border, provided funding to the brigade, making it liable for the actions of the soldiers under a U.S. federal law called the Alien Tort Statute as well as California state law.
Occidental's Colombian subsidiary and Ecopetrol, Colombia's state-owned oil company, jointly gave assistance worth $6.3 million to help with security at a time when guerillas were attacking the pipeline, according to the ruling.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/15/us-usa-courts-rights-idUSKBN0JT20L20141215
